Legacy
by Mogo Girl
Summary: Garcia's past comes back to haunt her. Will Derek and the team be able to help her or will her past secrets be her undoing? A team fic centering mostly on M/G of course! Friendship first, maybe romance later. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds, CBS does, but my muse sure does like to play with them._

_This is a new story idea that the muse has insisted I begin to write. Unfortunately, she has not yet worked out the entire plot or all of the details so I guess we will just start and see where it all leads. Of course, it will be M/G centric but I do like to include the rest of the team as much as possible. As always, please read and review! I have a feeling I'm going to need the help on this one. Enjoy!_

Legacy

Chapter 1

It had been almost two weeks since the BAU team had flown out to Davenport, Iowa at the request of local officials who were desperately trying to capture a serial killer who preyed on single women. The case was finally closed and the team was ready to head home to Quantico, Virginia for a well deserved break. The whole team, including Penelope Garcia, their quirky but extremely adept technical analyst who had worked the case from her office in Quantico, was exhausted. Even Penelope hadn't slept in her own bed in several nights, opting to stay on the couch in her office at night in case the team needed her at a moment's notice.

"Hey, Baby Girl," Derek Morgan greeted Penelope as he called her from the BAU jet.

"Hey, Hot Stuff, what can I do for you?" Penelope responded in her usual flirtatious manner.

"Just wanted to let you know wheels are up and we should be back by six o'clock."

"Perfect! Tell everyone we have reservations at Pomodore's at seven and let JJ and Hotch know that I've already arranged for Will, Henry and Jack to be there when we arrive." Garcia advised. Garcia always felt it was part of her job to make sure her 'family' was well nourished and had a chance to wind down after a long case. She knew the best thing for the team was a chance to spend some time together focusing on things other than the horrors they worked with every day.

"And that's why you're my best Goddess!" Derek replied with a smile on his face.

"Ahhh, and I thought I was your ONLY Goddess!" Penelope replied with a fake pout.

"My mistake, silly girl. See you soon. " With a chuckle Derek hung up the phone and let the others know the plan before sitting back in his seat and putting his headphones back on.

* * *

It was after five thirty and Penelope was still trying to tie up some last-minute paperwork in her office when she noticed something strange out of the corner of her eye. Looking up at one of her numerous computer monitors, she noticed a small blinking light in the top right corner of the screen.

"_What the hell…?"_ she thought as she began furiously tapping the keys on her keyboard in an attempt to locate the source of the signal. Suddenly a single date popped up in the middle of the screen, **April 22, 1994. **Penelope gasped when she saw the date immediately recognizing it as the single worst day in her life, even worse than the day she had been shot. April 22, 1994, was the date that her parents had been killed in a car wreck by a drunk driver, the day that would forever change the course of her life.

After about 30 seconds the date disappeared and in its place was a grainy black and white photo of her parents still trapped in their wrecked car with a caption underneath that read, **THERE ARE NO ACCIDENTS**.

Penelope was stunned and as horrible as it was, she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from the photo of the accident scene. She had never been allowed to see the photos the police had taken when her parents died and to see it now made it seem like it was all happening all over again.

As quickly as it appeared, the image was gone and the blinking light on the monitor stopped, indicating the connection had been cut. Still in shock, Penelope just sat staring at the blank screen, not knowing what to make of what had just happened. A whirring sound jolted her out of her shock and she turned to see her printer spitting out the images that had just appeared on her screen.

Tentatively reaching out, she took the printed image from the printer and sat holding it in her hands as the tears began to fall, her finger tenderly tracing over the broken bodies of her parents. Why now? Sixteen years had passed since her parent's death without any reason for her to believe there was anything more to it than a tragic accident. Who would play such a cruel joke, and why?

Eager to rush through a few minutes of the necessary paperwork so they could head to dinner with family and friends, the team wasted no time getting back to the BAU after the plane landed. Derek was surprised not to find Penelope waiting to greet them with open arms in the bullpen as she usually was when they returned but figured she was working with her "babies" and had lost track of time. By 6:45, everyone was ready to leave for the restaurant but Garcia still hadn't made her appearance.

"Why don't the rest of you go on and get our table. I'll go pry Garcia away from her computers and bring her over with me. We'll meet you there in a few minutes," Derek instructed the others. As everyone else grabbed their coats and headed for the elevators, Derek headed to Penelope's bunker.

Approaching Garcia's office, Derek was surprised to hear what sounded like a soft sobbing coming from inside.

"Penelope?" he asked with concern as he entered her office. "Baby Girl, what's the matter?" he asked as he kneeled down next to her chair. Looking into her eyes, he could tell that something was very wrong with his best friend.

"My parents," Penelope simply stated as she handed Derek the picture she had received.

"What? " Derek asked confused. Taking a closer look at the photo and the caption, he turned back to her and asked, "Where did you get this?"

"It just appeared on my computer screen, about 20 minutes ago." she tried to explain through her tears. "I tried to trace the signal but couldn't and then it just disappeared all together. Then somehow, it automatically printed out on my printer. Oh, Derek, what does it mean? Why would someone play a sick joke like this after all these years?" she begged to know as the grief washed over her and she began crying even harder.

"I don't know, Princess, I don't know," Derek said as he gently took her into his arms and held her as she cried. After she had been shot, she had explained to Derek how her parents had died and what losing them had meant to her. After that, they had had many a late night talk about Penelope's childhood and her parents whenever she was feeling homesick or had the occasional nightmare about the day she found out they died. Derek knew full well how much her parents meant to her and couldn't imagine what this must be doing to her now.

"Penelope, I think this is more than just someone's idea of a joke."

"What do you mean, of course it's a joke, a very sick joke, what else could it be?"

"Think about it, Baby Girl. Whoever did this was able to hack into, not only the FBI but YOUR computer system, and had access to the accident scene all of those years ago. This is bigger than some joke." Derek said as he realized himself the significance of what was happening. "I'm calling the team back and we're going to figure out what's going on right now," he said as he pulled out his cell phone to dial Hotch's number.

Barely able to process what was going on, Penelope slumped back into her chair. At 18, her parents death had almost destroyed her, now even at 34 she wasn't sure if she was any better shape to handle what may lie ahead.

_TBC._

_Please review and let me know what you think about the start. Maybe with this story we will get into a little of Garcia's mysterious past. _

'


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds. _

_Thanks for all of the reviews of Chapter 1. They seem to have kicked my muse into gear. _

Chapter 2

Within 30 minutes the whole team was gathered back at the BAU. Will had offered to take both Henry and Jack home when he had heard what was happening.

"And there's no way of telling where the messages originated from?" Hotch asked as he contemplated the photo that was now pinned on the board in the conference room where the team sat.

"No." Penelope replied. "I've tried everything I can to trace it back and I keep coming up with dead ends. Whoever this is is good and has a lot more than just a general knowledge of computers," Penelope said.

"What about your brothers, Pen?" JJ asked. "Have any of them received anything similar?"

"No. After Derek called you I got in touch with each of them and they haven't received anything. They said they would let me know if they did."

"I have a feeling they aren't going to be getting anything," Reid stated.

"Why not?" Derek asked.

"Well think about it. Garcia was contacted through her computers. It seems to me that this unsub wanted to make sure he got her attention, specifically. If he was going to contact the whole family he could have just mailed or had the photos messengered to them. It certainly would have been a lot less trouble." Reid explained.

"But why now? My parents died when I was 18," Garcia asked as a tear slipped from her eye. Derek, reached over and squeezed her hand in support. "And what does he mean about there being no accidents? My parents were killed by a drunk driver. The guy was even arrested!"

"Penelope, I know how difficult this is for you, but we need to see those police reports from the accident," Hotch instructed. "I want all of the information we can get on the other driver. Where has he been for the last 16 years?"

"I'm afraid that's not going to do us any good, Hotch," Derek broke in. "Penelope and I already checked his records while waiting for you guys to get back and the man died 12 years ago of cancer."

"Damn!" Rossi exclaimed. "There's got to be some explanation." After thinking for a few moments, he continued, "Garcia, I remember when you got shot you told us that after your parents died you quit Cal-Tech and went underground for a while teaching yourself code, right?"

"Yeah, sure but…"

"Wait a minute, hear me out. This guy evidently has an expert knowledge of computers and knows the details of your parents' death, could this be someone from that time in your life?" he asked.

"Yeah, maybe…" Penelope said, avoiding eye contact with the others as she answered.

"Garcia, I think it's time you gave us a little history lesson," Rossi stated. "And don't hold anything back…we need to know exactly what was going on in your life at that time and who you had contact with."

Penelope looked around the room at the six set of eyes looking at her expectantly. She had never before spoken with anyone about that time in her life, not even Derek. It had been an especially hard time for her and a lot of the things that had happened back then were just things that were better forgotten as far as she was concerned. Not to mention the fact that it was during the time that she had been placed on a watch list by the FBI, later to be recruited by them. The manner in which that had happened was supposed to be classified and something she had been sworn never to reveal….to anyone.

Noting her hesitation, Derek turned her chair around so she had to face him. "Baby Girl, I know this is not something you want to do but Rossi's right. We need all of the information we can get if we're going to find this guy. You know that everyone in this room loves you, right?"

"I know, but…"

"No, Penelope, no 'buts', you need to tell us." Hotch said. "I promise anything said in this room will stay between us if at all possible but we can't help you if you're not completely honest with us."

Before she could even answer, the monitor on Garcia's laptop lit up and an alert sounded indicating she had a message. Glancing up, Penelope cried out as she saw what appeared on her screen. Derek turned to look at the screen. "Shit" was all he said and then rotated the laptop so the rest of the team could see it.

Filling the monitor was what appeared to be an autopsy photo of Penelope's mother. Her body was laying on a gurney in a tile lined room. A "Y" shaped incision had been made completely down the body, as a coroner would make. Underneath the photo in bold letters was a caption that read; **EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON.**

"Oh my God" Emily gasped as she looked at the display. The rest of the team visibly grimaced at the image before them.

About a minute later the image disappeared, just like the other one had. Derek could feel Penelope shaking as he put his arm around her. Through her tears she looked at the team and asked, "What do you want to know?"

_TBC_


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds._

Chapter 3

Penelope looked to Derek who returned her gaze with a quick nod to show her he had her back and that it was ok to go ahead. Penelope stood and moved to the windows that overlooked the bullpen with her back to the rest of the team. Somehow not looking them in the eye made the whole thing a little easier. The words came slowly at first and then spilled out of her as if they had been waiting for just this moment to be revealed:

_I'm the youngest of five children. By the time I was born, the youngest of my brothers was already in high school. My parents were dyed in the wool hippies and, needless to say, their parenting style was pretty lax. I had friends but, if you can believe it, I was an even bigger geek then than I am now. As a result I spent a lot of time on my own as a child. In school I learned about computers and found that DOS and code were things I could lose myself in and soon found that I had quite a knack for it. _

_After high school, I applied and was accepted to Cal-Tech. My parents didn't really understand the computer stuff but they were thrilled I would be going to college close to home. Computer Science was a fairly new area of study at that time and it wasn't long before my knowledge exceeded that of most of my professors. As a result, I began to hang out with a group of about seven or eight students who would gather at night and work on more advanced code, real cutting edge. It was all harmless though, hacking of the grading system, stupid stuff like that for the most part. We laughingly called ourselves the Geek Underground. _

_Then one day, near the end of my first year, I was sitting in an English class when the Dean came in and asked me to follow her to her office. I thought they had discovered that in one of our nightly sessions I had hacked into the University database. Instead, she made me sit down, looked me in the eye and told me that earlier that day, my parents had been killed in a car accident. My brothers all lived out of state by that time and the Dean told me that Sam, the oldest, would come by the campus the next morning to get me. It was all so shocking, I don't even remember how I got back to my dorm room that day."_

Penelope could feel a tear rolling down her cheek as the memories of that fateful day came back to her. Every member of the team felt for her but knew that to interrupt at this point was not what Garcia needed. Derek wanted nothing more than to go over and hug her but resisted the urge. Taking a deep breath, she continued:

"_I must have sat on my bed for hours after getting back to the dorm. The next thing I remember is that it was dark outside and I began to feel as if the walls were closing in on me. I had to get out of there. I don't even think it was a conscious thought, I was working on auto pilot. I stuffed a few items into an overnight bag and headed out to the only place I felt safe, the house off campus where the Underground sessions took place. I spent the night there and after that began spending nights with friends of friends, acquaintances of other underground members, whoever I could find. I sent a message to my brothers to let them know I was safe but never let them know where I was. I didn't even go to my parents funeral. I couldn't face the fact that they were really gone. Within weeks, I became thoroughly immersed in the underground world of coding. I discovered a whole subculture of people who didn't ask too many questions and who were willing to teach me a unique brand of survival skills. I was definitely learning way more than I ever had at Cal-Tech._

_By about 1999, I knew my skills were wicked good. I could hack any computer someone put before me, even classified government files weren't much of a challenge for me. In the Underground, you did whatever you could to make money and survive. Most of the time you didn't even know who you were doing jobs for, you just kind of got word of them, did the job, and an exchange of information and money would take place, usually through a post office box drop off. No names, no face to face meetings. I wasn't always proud of the things I did, but I could always justify it by thinking of my parents. As I mentioned they were true hippies and government and politics wasn't exactly their scene. I told myself they would have said what I was doing was all right as long as I wasn't physically hurting anyone. _

_Then one day I got a request for a job that would require me hacking into government defense files, real top secret weaponry information. I knew I could do it and the money was phenomenal but something didn't feel right about it to me. I was afraid of whose hands the information would end up in. Unfortunately I had gotten myself in the predicament of not just being able to turn the job down outright. I knew whoever was behind the request wouldn't take no for an answer. I didn't know how to get out of it so in order to buy myself some time I told the requestor that I would need several weeks to get the job done. In the mean time, I hacked into the FBI and CIA computer systems and added my name to their most watched list. In actuality I had known I had been on one or more of their watch lists for years anyways, I just moved my priority level up. _

_Luckily, that worked and my movement up the list caught someone's eye and they contacted me through a series of websites I had encoded onto their list. I knew a smart tech would eventually able be able to trace back to me. I agreed to tell them what I knew about the defense file request and also agreed to show them how I was able to hack their files and bypass their encryptions. At their request, I helped them write new security system codes so that hacking would be near impossible. In the end I was able to tell the "customer" that I couldn't do the job and when they checked the new systems in place, they bought my story. _

_Anyways, one thing eventually led to another and I ended up being hired by the FBIand well, you know the rest." _Penelope finished her story and turned back to face the team who was now staring at her in awe, trying to process what they had just been told.

"Baby Girl, you never told me any of this…" Derek said as he began to realize what a hard life Penelope must have lived during those years.

"I'm sorry, Derek. I've never told anyone what I just told you. It's not a part of my life I'm particularly proud of and if you think differently of me now, I'll understand."

Derek stood and walked over to her, taking her in his arms, be damned what the rest of the team thought. "I do think differently, but only in that I have more respect for you now than ever. What you must have gone through, I'm sorry you had to go it alone."

"Thank you for that, my hero" Penelope said with a sigh of relief.

"Uh hmmm" Hotch cleared his throat, needing to get the team back on track. "Penelope, you've certainly given us a lot to think about. From the sounds of things there are unfortunately a lot of people from your past who would be willing and capable of sending these messages."

"Actually, Hotch, I think we can narrow it down to just a few rather quickly," Reid observed.

"How do you figure?" Rossi asked as Penelope and Derek headed back to their seats at the conference table.

"Well if this person really did have something to do with the death of Garcia's parents, then it would have to be someone who knew her before she went underground, right?" Reid asked.

"He's right" Emily stated. "It sounds to me if we start with this Geek Underground group and work our way out from there."

"Makes sense, Hotch." Derek agreed. "Baby Girl, do you think you can locate any one from that original group still?

Wondering why it hadn't dawned on her earlier to do so, Penelope immediately began punching keys on her laptop. "I think so. I may need to get back to my office though to have access to all of my equipment to do so, though."

"All right, let's start there then," Hotch directed. "Derek, stay with Garcia and see what you can find out about those students. Emily and Dave, I still want to see that police report from the accident. Get a copy of that and talk to any officers that might still be around that remember it. Reid and JJ, I need you to look into Garcia's professors she had at Cal-Tech. Check them out and see if there's anything that might flag them as suspicious. I know these are all long shots but at least it's somewhere to start. I'll be meeting with Strauss, trying to give her some explanation of what's happening."

Penelope watched in awe as the team began to disperse for what they sure was a long night ahead, no questions asked. Even after everything she had just told them her family was still there to help. It was an amazing feeling to know that people cared about her that much.

"Penelope, you ok?" Derek asked, breaking into her thoughts.

"Oh, My Love, actually I'm better than I have been in a long time on some levels," she smiled back at him. Grabbing his hand and leading him out the door she said, "Let's get to work, Hot Stuff. I'm have no intentions of letting this asshole destroy me or my family again."

_TBC_

_I know this was kind of a long explanation but I really wanted to get into Garcia's background. I hope you enjoyed it. I have basically no computer knowledge so if any of this came across as unbelievable, I am sorry. It all stems from my imagination and any inconsistencies are my own. Please review and let me know what you think!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds….bummer._

Chapter 4

It was well past midnight and Hotch, Rossi, Reid, JJ and Emily had gone home, agreeing to be back by 9:00 a.m. to resume their investigations. Hotch had left Garcia with strict orders to get some rest and to contact him immediately if she received any further messages. Derek was determined to make sure she followed those orders.

"Come on Baby Girl, let's get you home, you need some rest. I can tell you're exhausted," Derek said as he reached past her and switched off her computer monitor.

"Hey!" Penelope said. "I'm still working. We've still got three more of these guys to find."

"And we will…in the morning," Derek insisted. "But you're not going to do anybody any good if you don't get some sleep."

"I don't think I could sleep anyways," Penelope said as she reached to turn her monitor back on.

Gently grabbing her hand Derek scolded her, "Woman, you are the most hard headed person I have ever met! I'm taking you home, like it or not. Now get that gorgeous behind of yours out of that chair and come with me, I'm driving."

"All right, all right you hunky bully, I'm coming. But you have to promise to pick me up first thing in the morning so we can get back here early," Penelope conceded.

"No can do." Derek replied with a smile.

"No? Well then I'm not going," Penelope said as she turned her chair back towards her computers.

Grabbing the back of her chair, Derek turned her back so she was facing him. "Yes, you are." he told her sternly. "And the reason I said no is because I won't have to come by to pick you up, I'm staying at your place. You didn't really think I was going to leave you alone tonight, did you Silly Girl? Anyways, I've missed your couch," he joked as he tipped her nose with his finger.

"Derek, you are the best!" Penelope said as she got up and gave him a hug. She soon had her computers shut down and within 30 minutes they were walking into her apartment. Derek insisted that Penelope go straight to bed and even though she resisted she fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. Derek didn't last much longer before he too was lightly snoring on her couch.

Sometime around three o'clock in the morning, Derek was awakened by Penelope's voice.

He got up to check on her and found her thrashing in bed, tears rolling down her face and calling out to her mother. She had told him before of having nightmares about the day she was told her parents were dead. Quietly he walked around to the side of the bed and sat down next to her. Reaching out he stroked her hair and whispered to her that everything would be all right. The actions seemed to work and soon her breathing deepened and she rolled onto her side clutching her pillow as she fell back into a peaceful sleep.

Before heading back to the couch he sat for a few minutes just watching her, contemplating this beautiful and amazing woman who lay before him. Her blonde hair with the multicolored streaks, the colorful clothing, the bright colors on her apartment walls, the funny knick knacks she kept around, her constant optimism and the need to see the good in those around her, the witty banter and the need to make others laugh; it all began to make sense to him now. It seemed in complete contrast to what her world had been before. She needed the brightness and laughter to counteract what must have been the darkness of the underground world she struggled to survive in for so long. We all find our mechanisms for coping with our pasts. For Derek it had been becoming a cop and then and FBI agent so he could stop men like Buford from hurting other children. For Penelope, it was doing whatever she could to make the world a better and happier place so she could honor her parents values and beliefs of peace and love.

Getting up, he leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her forehead and adjusted her covers. He was beginning to realize what a special woman she really was, even more so than he had ever imagined. Perhaps, when this was all over, it would be time to let her know what he saw in her and exactly how amazing he thought she really was. However, that would have to wait. Right now, his priority was to make sure she was safe and protected, and that's just what he planned to do, no matter what it took.

_TBC_

_I have to say this chapter did not at all develop as I had planned but as it progressed it just felt right to have a chapter devoted to interaction between Derek and Pen. I hope you liked it. I promise, I already have the next chapter in progress and it will be back to the regular plot line and finding out more about the unsub. As always, please R&R!. Thanks!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: I still don't own Criminal Minds_

Chapter 5

By 11:00 a.m., the team had already been back at work for a couple of hours and were ready to meet to discuss their findings. Thankfully, there had been no more messages or images sent to Garcia during the night.

"All right, what have we found out? Garcia, you and Derek start first. What were you able to find out about the members of the underground group at Cal-Tech?" Hotch inquired as he sat to give them the floor. Derek rose and headed to the board where he tacked seven photos that he and Garcia had printed off. Penelope told the team what they had learned.

"Thinking back, I remembered seven core members of the group other than myself," Penelope explained. "They were Carl Ferguson, Kim Nakahara, Artie Carmichael, John Phelps, Frank Chism, Charlie Goodman and Pete Shanklin. I was the only girl in the group. Going back over 16 years of employment, education and government records we were able to find all except one of the members. Carl, John, Frank and Pete all seem to check out. They all graduated from Cal-Tech and are working in the computer industry in some capacity or another. They are all married and between them have a dozen kids,"

"None of these four have any criminal records and all highly respected in their communities," Derek broke in. "We were unable to turn up one piece of dirt on any of them other than an occasional parking ticket. I don't believe any of them fit a profile of someone who would do something like this."

Taking back over, Penelope continued, "Kim and Charlie are both deceased. Kim died about a year after I went underground in an apartment fire just off campus. It was ruled an accidental fire. The apartment was a typical student rental and had been old and not well maintained and the fire chief said faulty wiring in the house was to blame. Charlie Goodman died in a car accident three years later when the car he was driving went over a cliff near his home. Police accident reconstructionists determined from the skid marks at the scene that Charlie and another car had been drag racing along the canyon roads and he missed the turn. It makes sense, from what I remember Charlie was always kind of an adrenaline junky and loved cars. He got arrested more than once for reckless driving and racing on public roads when we were in college."

"What about Carmichael?" Rossi asked.

"Now he's a puzzler." Penelope answered "We searched for hours and it's like he never existed. I couldn't find anything on him. Everybody leaves a paper trail of some kind but there's nothing on him I can find since he apparently left Cal-Tech in 97."

"What do you remember about him from school, Penelope?" Emily asked .

"Artie was a complete genius when it came to computers and code. I've never met anyone with better skills than he had, including yours truly. Unfortunately, he was also a weird bird. He had absolutely no social skills whatsoever," Penelope informed the team.

"Sounds like someone else we know," JJ said with a smirk as she looked at Reid.

"Hey", Reid said.

Giggling, Penelope continued. "Actually, Artie made our own little socially inept profiler seem like Emily Post. Artie didn't just play Dungeons and Dragons, he lived it. He had absolutely no filter between what he was thinking and what came out of his mouth. He was nearly impossible to be around but we all knew that he had skills that we could learn from, so we tolerated his social ineptitudes."

"Okay, so he's a good candidate if we can find him," Hotch observed. Turning to Rossi and Prentiss he asked, "What did you two find out from the police report?"

"Not much, really. The police report looks completely legitimate and after talking tp the Sergeant who was on scene that day, he doesn't remember anything unusual," Emily stated.

"However, we did find out that the drunk driver was a student at Cal-Tech at the time of the accident, "Rossi took over as he handed a photo to Derek to add to the board. "His name was Scott Matheson. I'm not sure what that means at this point but maybe we can cross check him with the others and see if anything comes up."

Before Hotch could even look over at her, Penelope announced, "I'm on it, Boss man."

"Reid, what did you and JJ come up with?" Hotch asked.

"All of the professors checked out for the most part. The only thing we found was a computer science professor by the name of Dr. John Kelley who was turned down for tenure in 93 due to some allegations from students," JJ said as she handed over the last photo.

"What kind of allegations?" Derek asked.

"Four students alleged that he was holding out grades unless they worked on personal projects for him. Mostly computer programs he was trying to develop and get marketed," Reid said. "The allegations were never proven but there was enough doubt by the tenure committee that they turned him down. "

"Well that could be enough of a stressor to send an already unstable person over the edge but we don't know that he was unstable and what does any of that have to do with Garcia? In 93 she was still in high school," Derek questioned.

"In any event, it's all a mute point anyways," Reid continued. "Kelley died last year as the result of a gunshot wound he received during a mugging."

"Wait a minute, does anybody else see something strange here?" Rossi asked as he got up and went over to the board and began rearranging pictures. When he was done he stepped back revealing the pictures of Garcia's parents, Dr. Kelley, Kim Nakahara, Charlie Goodman and Scott Matheson grouped together.

"You're right, Rossi," Reid agreed, "that seems like an awfully large percentage of deaths among such a relatively small group."

"But it has been 16 years…" JJ reminded them.

"Yes, and if these were all deaths from illness that would be one thing," Hotch observed. "But look at this, five of the six, all but Matheson, died from unnatural causes…car accidents, fire, gunshot wound."

"Are you suggesting we have a serial killer that's been working for the past 16 years?" Derek asked.

"If we do, he's a serial killer with a very specific set of victims in mind," Reid stated.

Throughout the conversation, Penelope had been trying to listen with an emotional detachment but as the new theory emerged, she began to realize what they were actually saying. "So it wasn't an accident?" she asked as the truth hit her, "my parents were murdered? Oh my God!", she said as she stood and started to back out of the room, "It's because of someone I knew or something I did. It's my fault!" she cried.

Derek immediately reached out for her taking her hands in his, "No, Baby Girl, it's not. No matter what we find, none of these deaths, including your parents are your fault. Fault lies with the unsub, no one else." He took her chin in his hand, forcing her to look in his eyes, "Do you understand me, Penelope?"

Weakly she nodded her head but inside she was revolted thinking she might actually hold responsibility for her parents' death. Suddenly the photos, the team, even Derek's gaze made her feel as if she were suffocating and she knew she had to get out of that room. Breaking from Derek's hold, she turned and ran out. As she did an alert sounded on her laptop that she had left on the conference room table.

"JJ, go after her," Hotch ordered. "Derek, I want you to stay here until see what this is on her computer. JJ will take good care of her." Conflicted and worried about Penelope, Derek wanted nothing more than to run after her but he knew Hotch was right and he watched as JJ headed out the door.

As soon as JJ was gone, Hotch reached over and hit the ON button on Garcia's laptop display. A black and white photo of a funeral popped up on the screen with the caption, **THEY BLAME YOU FOR THIS** across the bottom.

"Those are Garcia's brothers standing around the grave. I've seen pictures of them in her apartment," Derek pointed out. "Damn it, she's already blaming herself. If she sees this, it'll drive her over the edge," Derek said as he rubbed his hands over the back of his neck.

"I agree, we don't need to let her see this right now, but we will eventually" Hotch stated. "We've got to have someone who can work on tracing these transmissions and Garcia's our best chance for that."

"She's also the only one who has a chance of helping us find Carmichael," Rossi said. "Unfortunately, we can't leave her out of this one. Potentially she's our only link to everyone else. Whether she knows it or not, I believe she has all the answers on this one."

"Damn it!" Derek exclaimed. "Hotch, I've got to get to her. If she's going to find out about this, I want to tell her. Let me spend some time with her, she needs time to process all of this new information. Hell she never really recovered from finding out her parents died the first time, now she has to come to terms with them being murdered. It's going to be like reliving it all over again."

"Ok, Derek., you go, but I want you two back in my office in a few hours," Hotch held up a hand as he anticipated Derek's protests, "I know it's not enough time, but time is something we don't have the luxury of right now. I want to get to this unsub before he decides to stop just mentally torturing Garcia and moves onto more drastic measures. The best way to keep her safe is to find him."

Derek just nodded as he ran out the door trying to figure out how in the hell he was going protect his Baby Girl from the horrors he knew lay ahead.

_TBC_


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or the characters, only the stories my muse decides to place into my imagination about them. _

_Ok, another short little scene between Derek and Pen. Next chapter will be longer, I promise!_

Chapter 6

Derek caught up with JJ and Penelope in JJ's office. Penelope was still crying and JJ had her arm around her, trying to soothe her friend.

"Hey, JJ, you mind if I take over?" Derek asked as he entered the office. "Hotch needs to see you back in the conference room anyways."

"Sure, Derek. Pen, I'll be right around the corner if you need anything," JJ said as she gave Penelope a quick hug, picked up a few files from her desk and headed back to join the others.

After JJ left, Derek grabbed Penelope's hand and said, "let's go get some fresh air. I think we could both use it." Silently leading her out of the office, down the elevator and out into the afternoon sun, Derek directed them over to a bench in the park across the street. For almost 30 minutes, he just sat with her, holding her hand, letting her cry and sort out her feelings without saying a word. He knew she would speak to him when she was ready.

Finally, she turned to him and said only one word, "Why?"

"I don't know Baby Girl, but I promise you we're going to find out the truth. I just need you to do two things for me," he told her as he reached over and brushed the tears off her cheeks. "First, you have to stop blaming yourself. Whatever twisted reasoning this unsub had for hurting your family has nothing to do with you. You know as well as I do that we can't always make sense of what an unsub does. Hell, if he's truly psychotic than there is no reasoning behind it that we'll ever be able to fully understand, you know that, right?"

Penelope shrugged, knowing that what Derek was saying was true but also realizing that convincing herself of such things would take time. She needed to grieve the loss of not only her parents, but of her own history that was now changing before her eyes.

"Sweetheart," Derek pulled her out of her thoughts, "I need you to at least try, for me if not for yourself, to get past the blame. Okay, remember I said there were two things I needed from you?"

"Yes," she said almost in a whisper.

"Ok, this one is going to be difficult, but I promise you I will constantly be with you," he said as pushed a few stray golden/pink locks out of her eyes. "I need you to stay focused and work with us on this. Rossi believes you have all of the answers locked inside of that sexy brain of yours," he said as he lightly tapped his finger against her temple, "we need to be able to do some memory exercises with you, see what you remember about the underground group and anything in college that happened that might give us a clue to why this unsub is coming after you now."

Realizing what he was asking, her eyes flew open wide and a look of pure terror filled them. "Derek, no! I can't do that. I can't relive my parents death yet again…please don't ask that of me!" she cried as she tried to release herself from his grip and run away from him as fast as she could.

Gently pulling her back to him he enfolded her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. "Baby Girl, I know this is scary, but I promise, I'll never leave your side and if things look like they are getting too hard for you, I'll stop it. But you know that the only way to stop this jerk is to find out all we can about him and you and how your lives connect."

Penelope knew he was right but the very thought of going through such an exercise, basically a hypnosis of sorts, scared the hell out of her. She had spent years trying to bury the exact memories they now wanted her to remember in as much vivid detail as possible.

"You promise you'll be with me the whole time?" she asked as she looked into his deep chocolate brown eyes.

"No place I'd rather be Baby Girl," Derek answered with his trademark killer smile. "Now, before we go back in, I've got to let you know what's taken place since you left and exactly what to expect from the memory retrieval, ok?" Taking her once again by the hand, Derek led her to the coffee shop just around the corner, one of their favorite places they liked to get away to when they needed a break. Over the next hour, Derek gently told her of the latest communication from the unsub and calmed her fears about the memory retrieval process. Finally, Penelope agreed she was ready to return to the office. She realized that no matter what lie ahead, with Derek at her side, she was strong enough to face the challenges.

_TBC_


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds…just borrowing them for a little while._

Chapter 7

An hour later, Reid, Emily, Derek and Penelope were set up in Hotch's office. It was decided that Penelope would feel most comfortable with Emily and Reid doing the memory exercises with her and Derek, of course, was there for the moral support. Rossi, Hotch and JJ would watch through a video feed in the conference room.

"You think this is going to work, Dave?" Hotch asked. "Lord knows Garcia can be pretty stubborn and if she's resistant to these techniques, she's not going to remember much."

"I don't see where we have much choice at this point, Aaron," Rossi responded. "We can't find any information on Carmichael, Garcia's not having any luck tracing the video transmissions and so far we can't find any proof to directly link all of these deaths. If we're going to have any chance of finding anything, we've got to delve a little deeper into their backgrounds and Garcia's the only one who can help us with that."

"Well I don't like it," JJ chimed in. "She's already got enough to deal with."

All of the shades had been drawn in Hotch's office and the lights were dimmed. Emily had asked Penelope to find the most comfortable chair and have a seat and to relax as much as possible. "We do this all the time, Penelope," she reassured her friend. "I promise, it's not that bad and if there's something you just absolutely can't handle, just let me and Reid know and we'll stop, ok?"

Before answering, Penelope took a glance over at Derek who responded with a smile, letting her know all would be fine. "Okay, let's do this," she said as Emily took a seat across from her.

"All right then, Penelope, I need you to start by just closing your eyes," Emily instructed. "What I need you to do is to start thinking back to when you graduated high school. Is that a good memory for you?"

"Oh, yeah," Penelope smiled as she answered. "My parents threw me and my friends one hell of a party that night. Hippies really know how to party," she chuckled as the others smiled along with her.

"Okay, that's great. Tell me about that party but not just memories, I want you to think about things like sounds and smells as well. Anything sensory, just kind of free associate and tell me what pops into your mind."

Thinking for just a second, Penelope began to let her mind wander and was surprised at things she began to remember; "I hear my mother laughing," she began slowly, "she had the best laugh and she loved hanging out with me and my friends. She was like one of us."

"That's great, Penelope. What else?" Emily gently urged.

"Wild flowers, I smell wild flowers. My parents always had a huge garden in the back yard where the party was and they would plant rows and rows of wild flowers. I had some in my hair and Daddy had presented me with a big bunch of them after graduation." A tear began to travel down Penelope's cheek as the memories became stronger. Seeing her reaction, Derek began to step forward but Emily threw him a glance and held up her hand, signaling that it was okay for now. Derek stepped back but kept a close eye on Penelope.

"Perfect Penelope, that's just the kind of thing we want to know. Now that you've got the hang of it, I'm going to let Reid take over and we're going to move forward in time a little bit. Okay?," Emily asked as she relinquished her chair to Reid.

"I guess so," Penelope said.

"Hey, Garcia, it's me Reid. Just keep your eyes closed and keep thinking about those sensory memories. I just want you to move forward a little bit to the time you first got to Cal-Tech.," Reid instructed. "Tell me about arriving on campus." For the next 30 minutes or so, Reid continued to lead Garcia through harmless memories of arriving at college, what her dorm was like, which classes she took, etc. When he felt she was comfortable and the memories were flowing freely, he moved onto more pertinent subject matter.

"Garcia, I want you tell me about the house that the Geek Underground students met at, tell me what a typical night was like there," he directed her.

Derek took notice as Penelope's posture stiffened just slightly and he leaned forward so he could make sure to keep a check on her reactions as these particular memories were probed. He was going to make good on his promise to stop this as soon as he didn't feel she could handle it any more.

In a slightly softer voice than before, Penelope began to recite her memories from that time: "We would usually all arrive around nine or ten o'clock. Well, Artie would already be there because it was the house he rented while going to school. There was a room in the back of the house that we had set up with our computer equipment. It was basically just a bunch of card tables with computer equipment set up everywhere. Lots of wires running across the floor, it was probably quite a fire hazard."

"Can you smell anything?" Reid prodded, knowing that smells often triggered more memories than any other sense.

"Stale pizza and dirty laundry," Penelope said after a moments thought. "I guess like any typical guy's college residence, really." Even Rossi and Hotch smiled a little at the last remark as they watched from the conference room.

"Great, Garcia. Tell me what would happen after everyone got there," Reid continued.

"Artie usually had a list of assignments, like codes he wanted us to try to write. It might be something as simple as hacking into the University attendance records or as complex as developing new codes or programs that would perform advance computing techniques."

"Would you work alone or in groups on these assignments?" Reid asked.

"Alone, usually. Artie said we needed to learn skills on our own because somebody wouldn't always be there to help us. And he was right, when I went underground later, I usually had to work alone out of necessity's sake," Penelope explained but then paused and Reid could tell from the look on her face that something was troubling her.

"Garcia? What is it? What do you remember?" he asked.

"It may be nothing but it seems like not long before my parents died, that things changed at the house," she said.

"How?" Reid wanted to know.

"I had forgotten until now but just after the Spring Semester started in January of 94, Artie, Kim and Charlie would often go off and work on something together. When the rest of us would ask what they were doing, they wouldn't tell us. Artie once told me we would find out soon enough. After several weeks of this, the rest of us got tired of it and began plotting to hack into Artie's system to see what it was they were being so secretive about. It was really all just joking around except that I decided to really try and do it. I figured if I could hack Artie's system, that would really be something and I could prove to them how good I really was. It was a challenge."

"So, were you successful?" Reid asked.

"Not completely…." Penelope began and then sat up with a start, her eyes flying open. "Oh my God!" she cried.

Derek rushed to her side, seeing the panic on her face. "What is it, Baby Girl?" he asked as he knelt down beside her chair.

"I never thought it was real!" she exclaimed. "He told me it was just a game they were developing. How could I have not remembered this? Derek, I've got to get to my computers," Penelope said as she stood and ran out of Hotch's office toward her bunker.

Reid, Emily and Derek quickly followed as Hotch, Rossi and JJ left the conference room headed in the same direction, all wondering what their tech had remembered that would cause her such panic.

_TBC_

_This chapter kind of took on a life of it's own as I wrote it but I finally have the ideas I needed to conclude this story and hopefully will be able to wrap things up before too long. I hope you stay with it until then. Please R&R. Thanks!_


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: CBS still owns Criminal Minds but I'm working on it_

Chapter 8

Penelope ran into her bunker and immediately began tapping furiously on her keyboards, frantically searching what seemed like numerous databases simultaneously. The team was standing behind her, just deciding it was better to let her work than trying to interrupt her.

After about 10 minutes, Penelope finally turned around and pointed to her screen, "This is it!" she exclaimed. "I just can't believe he's actually developed this…we've got to stop him."

The frantic look in her eyes began to worry Derek. "Baby Girl, you've got to calm down. What exactly are you talking about?"

"Ok, so get this," Penelope began to rapidly explain. "All those years ago at the house when I was attempting to access Artie's computers I found a program called 'The Worm'. You know how we all get internet viruses and stuff on our home computers and they sometimes call them worms? Well this was like an early version of an internet virus except that this worm was specifically designed to infiltrate government encryptions. Something we were always trying to do because it was the most challenging type of program to write."

"Garcia, just what exactly does that mean?" Rossi asked.

"All right, remember when Matthew Broderick was still young and cute and he was in that movie War Games where he inadvertantly started a Global Thermal Nuclear warfare program on the Defense Department's computer and they thought we were being attacked by the Russians and vice versa?" Penelope tried to explain now almost breathless from the adrenaline pumping through her veins. "Well this is like that only a gazillion times worse. What Artie was working on was made to infiltrate chemical and biological warfare research and to then run simulations using that information that would develop bigger and better viruses with ingredients that the government already had access too."

"If its just simulations, I don't understand the problem," Reid interjected.

"That's just it. According to the specifications that Artie had set, once the simulations had been run and the new strains of viruses developed this information could be provided to the highest bidder through anonymous auctions. It's really too complicated to explain how but the bottom line is that with this program, someone could send some really nasty bugs where ever they wanted to and the source would be practically untraceable. Not to mention that pest control would be near impossible because they would be newly formed viruses or contaminants that noone would have the antivirus for yet. Can you imagine if such technology was handed over to the wrong people? Oh God, and I believed him when he said it was all just a computer game simulation."

"How do you know it's not more than that now?" Rossi inquired.

"Because in order to bypass government encryptions, you have to use a certain kind of code and very few people anywhere even have knowledge of those codes. On top of that every coder has their own signature, so to speak, something embedded in their coding that shows it's their program. We all do it, it's a pride kind of thing I guess, but unless you know exactly what you are looking for, you would never find it. I remembered Artie's signature from way back, it was very unique."

"And I take it you found it somewhere?" Hotch asked.

"You win the prize boss man," Penelope said. "On a hunch, I went rooting around a few chemical supply houses computer systems, ones I remembered from my underground days that contracted with the government. From the looks of things, it looks as if there has been coding planted into some of their systems that would allow someone to bypass their security measures. It's something you can only find if you know to look for it in the first place. Kind of a hidden back door into their system, if you will. Simply put, the back doors I just found had Artie's signature spray painted all over them."

Finally feeling spent from the burst of adrenaline, Penelope slumped back into her chair. Realization of what had been happening over the past 16 years was beginning to sink in. "It was real, the whole time it was real and I just took his word that it wasn't. What have I done?" Penelope asked as she put her head in her hands.

Derek went over behind Penelope's chair and put his hands on her shoulders. "You were 18 Pen, you would have had no idea that anybody would actually develop something like this."

"Garcia, since you found Carmichael's signature, does that mean you can now trace something back to him?" Emily asked, knowing that locating the unsub was still top priority.

"I hope so. I've got a program running now that will hopefully be able to work through his convoluted coding and eventually trace back to the computer it originated from. It may take a few hours though, Artie knows all the tricks of how to hide his trail," Penelope said with a sigh as she reached back and took hold of one of Derek's hands that was on her shoulder.

"Damn, one step forward and three back." Rossi thought out loud.

"What do you mean, Dave? What's bugging you?" Hotch asked as he noticed the frustration in Rossi's voice

"Well think about it, we may now have a lead on Carmichael but we've answered none of our questions. Why the killings, if he in fact was the one to kill them, why Garcia's parents and not her, and even more puzzling, why now after sixteen years is he back for Garcia?"

"According to our timeline, Garcia's parents were the first murders, correct?" Reid stepped up.

Penelope flinched as she heard the words murder in connection with her parents. Feeling her discomfort, Derek squeezed her hand. "Baby Girl, are you ok with this? We can go get some coffee or something while the others work this out."

"No, it's ok. I need to hear this. I need to finally know what really happened," She stated as she gave Reid a quick smile to show him he could continue.

"Garcia told us that Artie was a real social misfit, right? I bet he wasn't real comfortable around girls was he, Garcia?" Reid asked.

"Are you kidding, he would practically get the hives anytime a girl got near him. The others in the group had to practically force him to let me join the group and then I was constantly proving myself to stay there," Garcia informed them.

"Exactly. So you find out about his program and he's threatened. But being the anti-social guy that he is, direct contact with you is the last thing he wants…"

Emily picked up on Reid's thoughts, "But he knows he has to get rid of Garcia before she digs any deeper, so he plans something that will get her out of school and away from what he's working on."

"So he KILLS my parents?" Penelope gasped.

"I don't think he meant to kill them. I think he was hoping for something that would get you out of school and away from him long enough for him to develop his ideas," Reid commented. "I bet if we dig, we'll find a connection between Carmichael and Scott Matheson. Matheson was a mechanical engineering major and if I remember correctly, Matheson's grades weren't great and he was barely scraping by at Cal-Tech. My guess is that Carmichael used that to his advantage and agreed to change Matheson's grades in the system or something similar if he would help him out. He was probably supposed to rig the car or something but Matheson was a partier, got drunk and took it one step further. No one was supposed to die. Carmichael would have seen the fact that they died as an unfortunate result except for the fact that it worked in getting you out of his way, even if not in the exact way he had planned it," Reid deduced.

"But I didn't even really know anything!" Penelope cried. "I believed his story about working on a computer war game."

"Yeah, but he couldn't take that chance," Derek said. "I bet that program would be worth a lot of money to the right person, am I right?"

"Potentially millions." Reid stated.

"Ok, assuming this is all true, what about the others?" JJ asked.

"Sounds like Carmichael was working on the program back in college with Nakahara and Goodman." Rossi remembered. "What if, as this thing progressed and became more of a reality, they decided they wanted out?"

"So he had them killed to keep them quiet, My God." Penelope shook her head in disbelief.

"And he would have been smart enough to know how to make things look like an accident and get away with it which is just what he did." Hotch observed.

"What about Dr. Kelley?" Emily asked.

"Did you guys say that he was trying to produce and market computer programming?" Derek said. "What if he was Carmichael's link to the potential buyers. He had failed on his own but with Carmichael's help, Kelley could finally be part of something he had wanted for a long time."

"They why kill him?" Rossi asked.

"My guess is that now that this program has been developed and Kelley provided Carmichael with his contacts, he wasn't needed anymore, " Derek concluded.

"Well that brings us back to Garcia and why now?" Hotch mused.

"The timing matches," Reid stated. "If Kelley was killed just last year it must mean that it wasn't until then that the program was ready to be marketed, so to speak. That's plausible considering these things often take years to perfect."

Something clicked in Penelope's brain and she quickly turned back to her computers and began a search.

"What are you looking for, Baby Girl?" Derek asked as he watched over her shoulder.

"Let me check….Oh!." Penelope exclaimed. "He's back because he thinks I'm onto him again!"

"What do you mean?" Hotch asked.

"Remember when Reid was infected with the anthrax and I was looking up all of that information on those chemicals? I must have crossed paths with some of his programming and he found me again."

"Of course!" Emily chimed in. "He thought you were looking for him or, at least, his program! And now he wants you out of the picture again."

For a few moments, everyone was silent allowing time for all of the information to sink in.

Finally JJ asked, "So what do we do now?"

"We find Carmichael." Hotch said in his usual stoic manner. "Garcia, how long until that program of yours can give us something on his location?"

"Probably another hour at least but I'll do what I can to speed things up."

"Okay, Derek stay with her, let us know the minute you have something. JJ, you and I need to alert the State Department to what might be going on, have them on the lookout for the programming they need to be looking for. The rest of you need to go back over the previous deaths. Look at those reports again and see if you can find anything that might help us prove they weren't accidents. This guy had to leave some kind of evidence behind."

As Hotch finished with his instructions, the group quickly left the room, leaving Derek and Penelope alone in her office. Looking at Penelope, Derek could tell that she was physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted. "C'mere Baby Girl" he said as he pulled her over to the couch. "Sit with me for a minute."

Sitting down next him, Penelope felt all of the adrenaline and energy that she had been experiencing drain out of her body. She leaned over and laid her head on his chest as she felt his arms wrap protectively around her. To tired to even speak, she just let the warmth of his body and the sound of his heartbeat comfort her.

"Derek?" she finally said after several minutes. "Remember how you once asked me to never stop talking to you?"

"Mmmmhmmm, Sweetheart, sure do." he answered as he leaned over and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"Promise me you'll never stop being here to hold me when I need you. You're the only one who can make me feel safe and like everything's going to be okay," she pleaded as she looked up into his warm eyes.

"Now that's a promise I can keep, Beautiful Girl." he said as he smiled back at her pulling her closer into his body.

The couple sat that way until a few minutes later when an alarm sounded on Penelope's computers. "That's it!, It's found Carmichael's computer!"

_TBC_


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds_

Chapter 9

As soon as the printer spit out the location to Carmichael's computer, Derek and Penelope were on their way to Hotch's office with the information.

"We found the evil little hacker!" Penelope exclaimed as they burst into the team leader's office, "And you're not going to believe where!" Laying the printout on Hotch's desk, Penelope pointed a ring adorned finger at the map.

"Are you sure?" Hotch asked as he looked skeptically up at Morgan and Garcia.

"Absolutely!" Penelope answered. "Just think about it Boss Man, what better place to hide than right smack dab in the middle of the Pentagon! No wonder he had access to all those computer systems, it's easy to do when they just hand you the key!"

Looking to Derek who gave him a quick nod showing he agreed with Penelope's findings, Hotch quickly picked up the phone and dialed. "Give me General Taylor with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Tell him it's Aaron Hotchner from the FBI and this is priority one."

* * *

An hour later the team, along with General Taylor and a few members of his own staff, were gathered in the BAU conference room. Hotch had quickly brought the General up to date with what had occurred over the last 24 hours, ending with the information that Carmichael appeared to be working out of an office in the Pentagon.

Taylor quickly made a few phone calls and within a few minutes was able to confirm that Artie Carmichael was indeed a civilian contractor for the government. He had been hired as a computer programming specialist several years ago, being brought on board in a similar fashion to Penelope's own entrance into the FBI. The government had had him on a watch list for years and finally decided they would rather have his skills on their side than the enemies. Unfortunately, what they didn't know was what the BAU team had recently figured out, he was actually using government equipment to develop programming that could eventually be used against them, being sold to the highest bidder. Artie Carmichael was also a serial killer.

"Damn!" The General cursed as he paced the room. "How the hell does the US Government not know that they have a serial killer on their own payroll!"

"Sir, if I may," Penelope nervously interjected. "Artie has one of the best technical minds in the world, I can vouch for that. He knows more tricks of the trade than anyone I've ever seen and if he didn't want someone to trace his movements or his past, it's not hard to believe he was able to hide that from you. It's just a fluke that I remembered his coding signature and that he was actually still using the same one. If I didn't have that, I would have never found him either, and he was practically right under my cute little nose!"

Shooting Penelope a surprised glance, the General then quickly turned to Hotch and asked the $64,000 question: "So what's the plan? I want this bastard out from my building ASAP."

"Well, General, we don't have a whole lot of proof to arrest Carmichael on right now. What we do know, however, is that he's after Garcia and we would like to use that to our advantage," Hotch began to explain as took a quick look over at Morgan, anticipating what was coming.

"What?" Derek sprang out of the seat he had been in not believing what he had just heard. "You plan on using her as bait? No way, Hotch!"

"Cool it, Derek!" Hotch ordered. "You haven't even heard the plan, yet. Do you think we would put Garcia in harm's way if we weren't completely confidant we could protect her?"

"I don't care, Hotch. I'm not letting you do this. That woman's been through enough already and I'm sure as hell not going to let you or anyone else put her in danger, no matter how small the risk," Derek said as he stared down Hotch, letting his boss know that he meant business.

"Morgan, I think you better back off…" Rossi said as he noticed the glare coming back from Hotch.

"The hell I will!" Derek hissed back at Rossi, his blood boiling.

"Derek? Don't I get a say in this?" Penelope asked as she bravely inserted herself between the two men.

Breaking his stare with Hotch and looking down into her eyes, he couldn't believe that she might actually be agreeing to this. "Baby Girl," he said softly, "you don't have to do this. There's got to be another way."

"Yes, My Love, I do have to do this," Penelope said as she took his hands in hers. "They were my parents, Derek, and they are dead now because of something I was involved in." Before he could refute her words, she reached up and touched her finger to his lips. "Ssshh, let me say this, Okay? I know in my head that I'm not responsible for their deaths but at the same time, my heart is breaking knowing that maybe things could have been different. I need to be able to do something now to fix that, to show that I at least tried to do something to avenge their deaths. I've heard Hotch's plan, he told me about it before the General got here and you were working on something with Reid. It's a good one that I think will work. Most of it will be done using my babies so there won't be direct contact with Carmichael until the very end. By that time, you and Hotch and Rossi and the rest will be set up where I'll never be alone with him. I made Hotch promise me that I would always be in sight of you or else I knew you wouldn't agree to this. I also knew that I couldn't do it if I wasn't sure you were with me the whole time. Please, Derek, it's time for me to be the hero for once. I need you to let me finally be the hero for my parents."

Derek couldn't believe what he was hearing from his Baby Girl but at the same time he realized he should have expected nothing less. This amazing woman that had been his best friend for so long was quickly becoming the woman he was falling in love with and it scared him to death to let her walk into anything with a man like Carmichael. He also knew that she needed to do this, to close this chapter in her life so she could move onto the new and he so wanted the next chapter to start with him. "Okay, Baby Girl, I understand. I don't like it, but I understand." he said as he leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead not caring what the others saw at that moment. 'But as soon as this is over with and you're back safe in my arms, we are going to have one serious discussion about that hard headedness of yours!"

"Anything you want my overprotective hunk of a profiler!" she giggled back.

"Well know that we have all of that straightened out, let's go catch this bastard!", Hotch said with an ever so slight hint of a smile on his face.

_TBC_

_Once again, my muse has twisted things around and this had ended up going in a completely different direction than I had originally planned. I hope you like it. Next chapter: The plan is set in motion! Please R&R!_


	10. Chapter 10

_Disclaimer: You know the drill by now, don't you? I still don't own criminal minds or any of the characters – only my sick little twisted plot lines. _

_A/N: The park mentioned in this chapter is real. I looked it up online and studied a few pics of the area. However, I have never been there and am sure there may be some mistakes in my description. Please take any mistakes or misrepresentations as mine alone. Again, my poetic license is being very generously used at this point. _

Chapter 10

The plan was simple. Penelope was going to contact Carmichael and tell him she knew what he was up to and either wanted in on his take from the auctions or she would turn him in. Knowing that she was probably the only person who had the skills to track his program, it was a pretty sure bet he would want to set a meeting with her in person. Of course, the team knew the meet would be a chance for him to attempt to kill her and that was when they would take him.

Derek wasn't extremely happy with the last part of the plan but realized if they wanted to get this guy and have the proof to put him away permanently, it was the only way. Penelope would be wired the whole time and the hope was she would be able to get Carmichael talking about her parents and the others, providing the proof they needed on tape.

Penelope immediately set to work making contact with Carmichael after the meeting with General Taylor had ended. Contact would be made through covert computer coding programs so that Carmichael would believe her contact was legitimate. It would take some time for him to respond back. Derek and Penelope waited together in her office.

"I still don't like this, Baby Girl," he told her as he sat with his arm protectively around her on the couch.

"It's not exactly raining gumdrops in my brain either, Handsome but I have to admit that it feels good to be doing something proactive," Penelope told him. "Plus I know you'll be there to keep me safe."

For the next several minutes the two sat wordlessly, just drinking in the comfort of each other's closeness. Derek wanted nothing more than to tell her he loved her and to kiss her soft, full lips but he knew in his heart, now was not the time. He didn't want her to feel that he was professing his love as a reaction to the risk she was taking. First of all, she definitely didn't need the distraction right now, but more importantly he wanted to be able to show her that his love had been building for a long time and that it was real. For now his only purpose was to make sure she came back to him safe and sound so that he could spend the rest of his life proving his love to her.

An hour and a half later, Hotch stepped into Penelope's office, "Still no word?"

"No sir, not yet" Penelope responded as her fingers danced across her keyboard, checking for any word from Carmichael.

"Maybe he's not going to take the bait," Derek said with a slight air of hope in his voice.

"Wait a minute, I've got something!" Penelope exclaimed. "It's Artie. You were right sir, he wants to meet to talk about terms."

"When and where?" Hotched asked.

"Let's see…tomorrow morning at dawn, at the National Botanical Gardens near the Bartholdi Park Fountain."

"Damn, I don't like it Hotch." Derek said.

"Why, what's wrong with that?" Penelope wondered as she looked back and forth between the two agents.

"Can you bring up a visual of the park, Garcia?" Hotch inquired.

Quickly typing in a few commands, Penelope had the photo up in seconds.

"See what I mean Hotch?" Derek said as he pointed to the image on the screen. "At dawn that place is going to be deserted and its wide open enough that he'll spot any extra vehicles or agents loitering around. I say we pull the plug on this right now!"

"It's too late for that," Hotch explained. "If Garcia pulls out now, Carmichael will know something is up and we'll lose our chance of catching him." Turning to Garcia, Hotch directed, "Penelope, accept his terms. We'll gather the rest of the team and work with the Park Service officials to come up with a game plan."

"But Hotch…" Derek began.

"No, he's right Derek," Penelope interjected. "Its ok. I trust all of you completely. I know you'll figure out how to keep me safe."

"Well I guess I know when I'm outnumbered but we're going to have find someway to keep an eye on her at all times, Hotch."

"Of course, Derek, I wouldn't have it any other way," Hotch agreed. "We'll meet in the conference room in 15 minutes to plan our strategy."

As soon as the Unit Chief left the office, Derek turned to Penelope, "You're sure about this Sweetheart? You know it's not too late for you to change your mind."

"I'm sure, My Love. Just make sure you keep your promise to me. I predict I'm going to want those beautiful, sculpted arms around me when this is all over, Hot Stuff," Penelope said with a wink.

"I never break my promises, Baby Girl," he said with a smile as he embraced her, praying that he was right.

_TBC_


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds. _

Chapter 11

After a couple of hours of planning the team realized they were probably as ready as they could be for the events that were to take place the next morning.

"All right everyone, go home and get some sleep. I want you well rested for the morning. Penelope's got to be at the park by dawn so we'll meet here around 4:30 a.m. That should give us enough time to get Garcia wired up and to go over details one last time," Hotch instructed as he began packing up his files.

As the team was getting ready to leave, Penelope spoke up, "I just want to thank you guys before you leave. I couldn't make it through this without you. My parents may be gone but I know that I always have my family here. No matter what happens in the morning, I want you all to know that I love you."

"Nothing's going to happen, Pen." JJ said with defiance as she stepped forward to give her friend a hug. "We love you, too."

"Don't worry about a thing, Bella" Rossi spoke up, "it's the least we can do. You've been there for all of us at one time or another, we're just returning the long overdue favor." With that, the rest of the team nodded in agreement and headed out for a few hours of rest.

"So, Beautiful, you ready to get home, too?" Derek asked with a quick smile after the others had left.

"Sure am, Hot Stuff. Do I get a chauffeur again tonight?"

"Of course. I meant it when I said I wasn't letting you out of my sight until all of this was over."

"Oh yeah, then what? You going to drop little old me like a hot potato?" Penelope teased back, the familiar banter helping to ease the nervousness in her stomach.

Chuckling as he reached over and tipped the end of Garcia's nose with his finger, Derek looked her straight in the eye and said with conviction, "Not a chance, Baby Girl! You're stuck with me."

* * *

Stopping just long enough at Derek's apartment to check on Clooney and to get Derek a change of clothes, they made it back to her place within an hour. As they approached her front door, Derek noticed that it was standing slightly ajar. Instinctively pulling his weapon out of his holster he quickly threw an arm back over Penelope's body, pushing her back against the wall of the hallway.

"Hey!" she began to shout but Derek quickly turned, putting his finger in front of his lips, indicating for her to be quiet. Quickly realizing what was happening, Penelope eyes grew wide with fear as she watched Derek approach the door with his weapon raised. Taking a quick glance back towards Penelope to make sure she was out of harm's way, Derek turned back and nudged the door open with his foot, his gun guiding him through doorway.

As he entered the apartment, he was momentarily disoriented by the blackness that surrounded him. It appeared as if all the electricity to the apartment had been shut off. Taking a few seconds to let his eyes adjust, Derek tried to listen for anything unusual but could hear nothing. Suddenly from his left came the sound of someone laughing. Quickly pointing his gun in that direction, Derek shouted, "FBI, show yourself!"

"Oh I don't think so, Agent Morgan," Carmichael said from his spot on Penelope's couch. "I like the advantage these nifty night vision goggles give me, not to mention the night vision sights on my 9mm that I have honed in on your heart right now. You know, it's amazing what a few strategically placed friends at the Pentagon can get you. So why don't you put that gun down and ask my old college buddy Garcia to join us?"

Having heard what was going on from the hallway, Penelope stepped into the apartment, "I'm here, Artie. Let Derek go, I'm who you want."

"Penelope, no!" Derek shouted as he heard her come up behind him. "Get out of here, Baby Girl, Now!" Derek pushed Penelope back out of the door with his left hand as he swiftly dropped and rolled to his right. Penelope had fallen just outside of the doorway when she heard gunshots ring out from the apartment.

"Morgan!" she screamed as she crawled back through the doorway, feeling for him as she went. From the direction of her kitchen, she could hear Derek cursing. Sensing that he had been hit and needed help, she immediately began to crawl in that direction. Before she could get very far she felt a hand clamp around her left ankle, pulling her back.

"C'mere you bitch!" Artie hissed as he drug her back towards the couch. Knowing she had the advantage of being familiar with her apartment, she reached up and grabbed a screwdriver off the table next to the couch she had been using a few days ago to fix the projector that sat on the table. Allowing Carmichael to pull her a little closer, Penelope pulled her self up to a sitting position and raised the screwdriver over her head. With a scream she plunged her arm downward, hearing Carmichael scream as the blade of the tool sunk into his flesh.

With a yell, he released his grip on Penelope and she took her chance to find her way back over to the kitchen. Ducking behind the counter just as gunshots rang out over her head, she found Morgan who was sitting with his back to the cabinets. "Derek, are you all right?" she asked quickly trying to feel for any wounds.

"I'm hit in the leg but don't worry about me…get out of here Garcia!" he said.

"Yeah, that's right, come back out here you bitch!" they heard Carmichael taunt. "I'm going to kill you just like I did your parents, Goodman and Nakahara!"

Looking up and back over her shoulder, Penelope could just make out the outline of Carmichael as he stood, the top half of his body showing over the countertop with his gun pointed directly at her and Derek. Fearing her end was near she threw herself over the top of Derek in a last ditch effort to save him. Her tears began to fall as she said, "I love you, Derek Morgan." A gunshot rang out and her world went black.

_TBC_

_Ok, so I know I'm cruel and mean but the muse made do it!…lol. I promise to post the next chapter very soon..so you won't have to wait to long to find out what happened. Thanks again for all of your encouragement and reviews so far. _


	12. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer: No matter how much I wish it weren't so, I don't own Criminal Minds. _

Chapter 12

"Penelope!" Derek screamed as he heard the gunshot and felt her fall forward against him. When she didn't respond, he immediately thought the worst. Unable to move because of the bullet in his leg, he just wrapped his arms around her limp body and hung his head as he began to cry into her beautiful golden locks of hair. "Dear God, don't let her die!" he prayed as turned her over to feel for her breath and a pulse.

Suddenly a bright light shone in his eyes and a familiar voice called out to him, "Morgan? It's me Reid, are you guys all right?" Reid said as he hurried over to where Morgan and Garcia were crumpled on the floor.

"Kid! Get down, Carmichael's here and he's got a gun! He's already shot both me and Garcia" Derek yelled at Reid, wondering what in the hell the young agent was doing there in the first place but thankful as hell that help had arrived.

"No, it's okay Morgan, I got him. He's dead. "

"What the hell do you mean he's dead? He just shot Penelope, I heard the shot and she fell right into my arms," Derek barely managed to get out as the thought practically strangled the words in his throat.

"No, Derek, look again. I just shot Carmichael. He never got his round off. I don't think Garcia's been hit, she just passed out."

Just at that moment, Penelope groaned and struggled to release herself from the tight hold that Derek had on her as she came to, "What happened? Reid, what are you doing here? Where's Artie?" she began spilling out questions as she looked around her. "Derek, are you all right?"

"Whoa, slow your roll Mama," Derek said with tears of relief in his eyes as he took a good look at her. "You're all right? He didn't shoot you?" he asked as his hands traveled up and down her body searching for any wounds.

"No, I don't think so. I mean, I remember looking back and thinking he was going to kill both of us. I heard a shot and I guess I passed out, thinking he had killed you," Penelope remembered with some confusion. "What the hell just happened here?"

"That's exactly what I want to know!" Hotch's voice chimed in as another beam of light from his flashlight crossed the threshold of Penelope's apartment.

"Hotch?" Derek questioned. "Would somebody please tell me what's going on here! How did you guys know to come? Not that I'm not glad to see you."

"Penelope's neighbor called us. She heard a commotion in here and evidently after the trouble with Battle, Garcia had left her with our numbers and strict orders to call if she was ever in trouble. I assume the rest of the teams on the way. Good thinking, Garcia." Hotch said as he took a good look around the damaged apartment and towards the body of Carmichael that was now laying in a lifeless heap on the floor.

"Thank God for Natalie! That girls going to get a lifetime supply of my special recipe, homemade cookies for sure!" Penelope cried. Hearing Derek moan softly, she suddenly remembered that he had taken a bullet in the leg from Carmichael. "Derek, I forgot! My God, are you okay? Hotch, we need an ambulance…Derek's leg!"

"There's one pulling up right behind us," Emily said as she and the rest of the team members ran into the apartment. "What the hell happened here?"

"I think it's sufficient to say that Carmichael decided to move up his schedule. Evidently the whole meeting time and place was a ruse to get us to let our guard down so he could get to Garcia easier," Reid observed.

"Yeah, well, it almost worked," Derek said as he shivered with the thought of how close he had come to losing her. Feeling him shake, Penelope's worries about the severity of his gunshot wound rose. "Where are those damn paramedics?" she wondered out loud.

"It's okay, Baby Girl, it's not my leg. I don't think it hit any major arteries or anything, I'll be okay. I'm just thankful that Carmichael didn't get to you, I couldn't make it without my Baby Girl," he said softly as he reached up and cupped her face in his hands.

As the reality of what had just taken place began to set in, tears began to fall down Penelope's cheeks and she began to tremble. Pulling her face close to his, Derek leaned his forehead in so that it was touching hers. Speaking tenderly he declared, "I love you Penelope Garcia and I heard you say the same thing to me when you thought Carmichael had us in his sights. I want you to know that having heard those words come out of your beautiful mouth, I would have died a fulfilled man knowing you loved me. It's all I've ever wanted since the day I first met you and I swear to you right here and now, in front of everyone that I will spend the rest of my life showing you just how true that is."

Not giving her a chance to protest Derek pressed his lips against her and pulled her into a soft, loving kiss. At first the sheer surprise of it kept Penelope from responding and then after a few seconds, she let her body relax as the wonderfulness that was Derek Morgan's sexy mouth convinced her to give in and what started as a tender kiss soon turned into something more passionate and intimate.

"HHHmmmHHHMM" The sound of Hotch clearing his throat brought Morgan and Garcia back to the real world. "While I can see it's evident that you aren't hurt too badly, Morgan, I still think the paramedics would like to get a look at that leg."

"Uhm, yeah. Sure, Hotch," Morgan stammered as he looked around and saw the rest of the team watching him and Garcia with huge smiles on their faces.

Getting up to let the paramedics in, Garcia looked around and saw Carmichael's body. She could clearly see the blood that had seeped from the hole in his chest where she had stabbed him with the screwdriver. Cringing she asked Hotch, " What's going to happen now?"

"It's all right Garcia, we'll clean all of this up and get him out of here. I'm going to need to get full statements from you and Derek, but that can wait until the morning. I'm sure there'll be some questioning by IA but it's just routine. Strauss will make life hell for you and Derek for a few days but we'll make sure she knows what happened here and there'll be no problems" Hotch explained. Of course I can't guarantee you she won't give you any grief over your relationship with Derek but I won't let her do anything drastic."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of the Ice Queen. She won't have anything to say by the time I get through talking to her," Rossi promised.

"Thanks, fellas," Penelope said with a sigh of relief. Looking over she saw that the paramedics were ready to leave with Derek.

"Go with him Penelope, you two need to be together right now. We'll come to the hospital when we're done here," Hotch told her as he leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "It's over, Garcia…go take care of him." Penelope nodded back as she smiled, Hotch's words and actions leaving her speechless. Grabbing a hold of Derek's hand as the paramedics pushed him by on the gurney, she left her apartment with the love of her life next to her and the rest of her family watching as they left.

_TBC_

_Of course there will be more but after three chapters in under 24 hours my muse is wiped out! I hope you have enjoyed it so far…it's been a blast to write and all of your comments have made my last few days. The muse and I thank you! I promise more good M/G moments coming! _


	13. Chapter 13

_Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds!_

Chapter 13

In the aftermath of Carmichael's attack at Penelope's apartment, a flurry of activity had taken place. Derek had been taken to the hospital where the doctor's determined that, luckily, the bullet had hit no major arteries or bone mass. Basically it was a serious flesh wound. The bullet was removed, the wound stitched up and Derek was sent home the next morning with strict orders to rest for the next several days. Penelope accompanied him back to his apartment when he was released where she vowed to stay with him to make sure her followed doctors' orders.

Hotch had come by Derek's apartment within the first 24 hours and had taken full reports from both Derek and Penelope. Reid's accounting of the events had also been taken and all three reports reviewed by IA and Strauss with a determination that Carmichael's death had been justified.

As promised, Rossi had intercepted Strauss in her office the morning after the attack and had a long discussion regarding Morgan and Garcia and convinced her that there would be no action taken regarding the status of their relationship, whatever that might end up being. It was clear that their feelings for each other had not interfered with their job performance, and until it did, Strauss was to stay out of it. Technically, Strauss outranked Rossi but it was also common knowledge that he evidently had something on her from years ago that was solid enough to keep her from challenging his 'request'.

General Taylor also had a full investigation opened into Artie Carmichael and the computer programs he had been building. Enlisting the assistance of Garcia, they were able to dismantle the programs and they were able to stop any of the virus recipes that Carmichael had developed over the years from being sold to United States agressors. Garcia was also asked to provide training for some of the top government computer techs on how to detect, counteract and dismantle such programming so they could hopefully avoid such invasions into their systems again.

* * *

Finally after almost four days, the activity began to slow down and things were starting to get back to normal. The team had returned to work after a couple of days off but Hotch had presented Penelope with stern orders that neither she nor Derek were to return to work until Derek was released by the doctor to do so which would be at least another week.

"Hey, Hot Stuff, it looks as if you and I have a little more vacation time coming to us," Penelope smiled at Derek as she hung up the phone. "Boss man says he doesn't want to see us for at least a week."

"Well not that I don't love having you all to myself, Baby Girl, but I'm going to go stir crazy if I don't get out of this apartment soon," Derek mumbled from the couch Penelope had practically chained him to since he had been home from the hospital.

Over the past few days, with everything else that had been going on, both Derek and Penelope had avoided what had been said in Penelope's apartment. Ironically, both were secretly worried that things had been said in the heat of the moment and had concerns that, perhaps after having had time to look at the situation from afar, that the other one hadn't really meant it.

Penelope had spent the nights at Derek's house in the guest bedroom and while the flirting and bantering never stopped, both were scared to take it a step further. They hadn't kissed and had barely hugged since that night. With things calming down and not as much to keep them preoccupied, however, the 300 pound gorilla in the room was quickly becoming the 800 pound pink elephant and they weren't sure how much longer they could avoid the subject.

For Penelope, other things began happening as well once she had a chance to think about the last few days. Memories of her parents were now flooding back to her and she was beginning to restart the grieving process that she never had a chance to finish 16 years ago. Although she now knew the whole story of their deaths, she still didn't quite feel the closure she had hoped to find. As a result, nightmares were beginning to fill her nights. Not wanting to worry Derek, she had not informed him of her problems.

With practically nothing to do but think as he recovered, Derek had begun to have trouble sleeping at night as well. He thoughts constantly went back to Penelope and remembering hearing her tell him she loved him. He wanted to hear those words again and to hold her close in his arms but he was afraid to push too hard and to lose her.

On the fifth night at Derek's apartment, Penelope had gone to bed after making sure Derek had taken his medicine and that dressings on his wound were clean. They would be heading to the doctor's office the next day where hopefully the stitches would be removed and Derek would be released from bed rest. After that, Penelope knew that the excuses to stay with him would be gone and she would probably be returning to her own apartment.

Around 2:00 a.m., unable to sleep, Derek had gone to the kitchen for a glass of milk. As he passed by Penelope's room, he saw a faint light coming from under her door and could hear her softly crying. Gently knocking on the door, he softly called out to her, "Penelope?"

Not getting a response he pushed open the door. The sight in front of him made his heart break. Penelope was sitting cross legged in the middle of her bed with photos scattered around her, including the ones of her parents' car wreck and the photo of her brothers standing around their gravesite. Penelope had one picture clutched to her chest as her tears rained down onto the others around her.

Instinctively, Derek went and sat down next to her on the bed. Tenderly reaching around her, he placed an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest. With his other hand he gently stroked her hair as he let her cry. Although he hated to see her this way, having her in his arms again felt good and right.

Finally after what seemed hours, her tears began to subside and he pulled back from her just far enough to look into her glistening eyes. "Baby Girl, why didn't you tell me? How long has this been going on?"

"Since the night we got you back from the hospital," she said averting her eyes from him, feeling embarrassed that he had found her this way. "I didn't want to worry you."

Looping his finger under her chin, he tilted her face up towards his. Taking a deep breath, he realized it was time to let her know what he had been wanting to say for the past several days. "Penelope, don't you know by now that's what I'm here for? The last thing I would ever want is to know that you are hurting and that you didn't think you could come to me. I know we've been avoiding the subject, but I can't anymore, I've been miserable trying to dance around what we both know. I meant what I told you in your apartment that night. I love you with all my heart and soul, Baby Girl. I want to be there for you in good times and bad. I need you to know that you can lean on me for anything, just like I know I can count on you. You are the love of my life, Woman, and for those few minutes when I thought Carmichael had shot you, I didn't want to go on. When you came to and I saw you breathing again, it was like you had breathed life back into me as well. Please tell me you feel the same way. I know that you do and there's no reason to be afraid to say it anymore."

Penelope's heart was racing and her mouth was dry. Even after hearing Derek tell her that he loved her that night in the apartment she had had trouble truly believing it. How could this gorgeous hunk of a man be interested in her that way? Sure, the kiss they had shared that night had been unlike any other she had ever experienced but the adrenaline had been running and now that things were back to normal, could he really still feel that way?

Seeing the flicker of doubt in her eyes, Derek tapped her on the side of her temple and with an evil grin said, "I guess I'm just going to do something to get through that gorgeous hard head of yours…" Pulling her close, his right hand on her back, his left gently grabbing her hair and pulling her head up, he brought his lips down on hers. Determined to show her how passionately he felt, this was no soft gentle kiss. His tongue immediately began running over her lips, begging for entrance. Once granted, he eagerly nipped at her tongue and lower lip, elliciting a husky moan from Penelope's throat.

The sexy sound only urged him on and as Penelope's arms wrapped around him he pulled her hair back even further so that he could gain access to her creamy white neck. Trailing kisses around to her ear where he nipped her lobe and then down to her neck, he hungrily took in her delicious scents and taste. Penelope's moans were growing louder with every flick of his tongue and she was unable to hold it in any longer she practically screamed with the pleasure that he was making her feel. "Oh, Derek, I do love you. I always have and I always will! The thought of ever losing you just scares the hell out of me and I don't think I could survive without you in my life or knowing that you didn't love me too."

Raising his head back up from where his tongue had begun to make a trail towards her chest, he cupped her chin in his hand and after a quick kiss on her lips, brought his eyes up to meet hers. "Baby Girl, you don't have to be scared of that because I will always be here and I will always love you. You do to me what no other woman could ever do, you excite me in ways I never even imagined were possible, both physically and emotionally. And right now, all I want to do is to show you that. Come back to my bedroom with me, let me prove to you all the ways you make me feel and let me show you love like you've never felt before. I want to spend the rest of this night showing you what you do to me every time you walk by or call my name or I hear that sexy laugh of yours. I want to explore that sexy body of yours that I have been dreaming about so long, I want to know what every inch of you tastes and smells like. I want to feel what it's like to be inside of you and part of you. I need you, Woman." he practically growled at her.

"God, yes Derek, that's what I want too!" she said as she stood, took him by the hand and practically drug him back to his room. By the time they reached his bed, they were both practically naked, a trail of clothes following behind them down the hall. They spent the rest of the night and well into the next morning discovering the pleasures of each other's bodies and experiencing a level of love making neither had ever thought even existed.

When they were finally spent and could bare move from the exhaustion, Derek was surprised to hear a giggle coming from Penelope. "Well I'm glad you had a good time, Princess, but a giggle wasn't exactly the response I was looking for." Derek said.

"Oh I'm definitely not giggling at you my sexy chocolate love-making machine," she laughed. "I was just thinking, this probably wasn't what the doctor meant when he said 'bed rest'!"

Laughing Derek pulled her closer and the two fell back to sleep contented, satiated and completely happy with their world.

_TBC_

_Don't worry. I have one final chapter or epilogue if you will left in me for this one. I think I need to wrap it all up. I hope enjoyed this chapter…it was definitely fun to write..lol. Please R&R!_


	14. Epilogue

_Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or any of the characters…but I am slightly obsessed with them!_

Epilogue:

Derek's visit to the doctor had gone well and the stitches had been removed but the doctor had ordered him to stay off work for another 10 days. As they were getting ready to leave the doctor's office, Penelope pulled the doctor aside and spoke to him in private.

A few minutes later, getting into the car, Derek looked over at her with a puzzled look on his face. "Ok, Sweetheart, you want to tell me what that little tête-à-tête with the doc was all about?"

"I was just making sure it was safe for you to have sex," she said with a gleam in her eyes.

"Uhmmm, I think that ship has already sailed, Baby Girl!"

"Yeah, at home in bed, but not at high altitudes, y'know the mile high club?" she teased with a laugh.

"What are you talking about Woman?" Derek asked with his eyebrows raised.

"Oh Derek, you should see the look on your face!," Penelope said with a laugh. "Actually it's a surprise for you, My Love. I wanted to make sure that you were allowed to fly because while you were in with the doctor, I made some reservations for us on my laptop."

"Oh yeah? Now that sounds intriguing, what kind of reservations? Let me guess, it's one of those swinging singles resorts in the Bahamas, huh?"

"You wish, you naughty, naughty man!" she laughed as she gave him a playful slap on his arm.

Getting serious Penelope turned to him and explained, "Actually, Derek, I want to take you home to California to meet my parents. I need to go and visit their gravesites and let them know that I'm Okay with everything now and that I'm sorry I never made it to their funeral. I guess I just need the closure. And I want you to come with me. I want to be able to show you where I grew up and all the places I love and that are special to me. I also included a stop in Chicago. I thought you might want to visit your father's grave, too. I'm sure your mother would also like to see for herself that you are okay." Pausing for a moment to let Derek respond, his silence was deafening. "I'll understand if you don't want to come. I know we just began on this whole relationship thing, but I would really like you to come with me but it's really okay if you're not ready for that," she quickly added as she turned away from him, hoping she hadn't pushed things to quickly.

Reaching over and grabbing her gently by the chin he turned her face back to his where she saw the tear running down his cheek. "Baby Girl, of course I want to come. I think that is the most caring and beautiful thing anyone has ever asked of me and I'm so honored that you want me to be with you for such a private moment. And to think that you thought of my family as well, I can't tell you how much that means to me. You're an amazing woman, Penelope Garcia. What did I ever do to deserve someone like you?"

"You were, are and always will be my hero, Derek," she said as she took his hands in hers. "You listened, you held me, you cared; all when I thought my world was falling apart and even when I refused to see what was there all along you still loved me. Just like you promised after you called me your Solace, you waited for me to be ready for you. I'm not amazing, I'm just a lucky girl whose hero never gave up on her. You stole my heart from the moment you called me 'Gomez' and I don't ever plan on taking it back."

"You won't need to Baby Girl because you have mine," Derek said as he pressed his hand against her chest. "I love you, Penelope."

Now, when does that plane leave? I have a feeling that Mama Morgan is going to want to meet her soon to be daughter-in-law as soon as possible!" he said as he pulled her into a tight embrace.

THE END!

_Well that's it for this one. I hope you liked it! I have to take a moment to thank all of my reviewers and people who alerted to my story. OVER 100 REVIEWS!!!!! Wow, I would have never dreamed. You guys are the best! Thanks for supporting my stories and I hope to begin another one soon. Luv ya!_


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